Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Man Discovers 2.95-carat 'Patriot Diamond' at Arkansas State Park

A Kentucky man found a raw 2.95-carat diamond at a state park in Arkansas renowned for its diamond cache.
Terry Staggs, of Richmond, Ky. spent his Fourth of July weekend in
Arkansas at the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, a place
he knows well. He visits the park multiple times a year and has dug up
diamonds before, according to an official report by Arkansas' Division
of State Parks.
The champagne brown diamond, which Staggs named the "Patriot Diamond"
because he found it on July 4th, is the largest of the 304 diamonds
unearthed in at the state park this year.
"Because of their color, brown diamonds are often difficult to find
in the dark dirt of the diamond search area. However, sunny weather
conditions on July 4th were perfect for this sparkler to catch Mr.
Staggs' attention as he searched," Park Interpreter Waymon Cox.
What's left of a 95-million-year old eroded volcano is now Crater of
Diamonds State Park, a 37.5 acre (15.2 hectare) plowed field of dirt in
southwest Arkansas. The park is the world's only diamond-bearing site
that's accessible to the public, and visitors to the site constantly
find gems which they are free to keep for themselves. An average of 600
gems - diamonds, amethyst, garnet, jasper and more - leave the park each
year.
In 1924, the largest diamond ever discovered in the United States, a
40.23-carat white diamond named "Uncle Sam" was unearthed. Other large
notable finds, according to the Arkansas Parks division, include the
"Amarillo Starlight, a 15.33-carat white diamond discovered in 1975, and
the Star of Shreveport, an 8.82-carat white gem unearthed in 1981. In
2011, an 8.66-carat white diamond named the Illusion Diamond became the
third-largest gem registered at the Crater of Diamonds State Park since
1972."
The most perfect diamond ever certified by the American Gem Society,
the Strawn-Wagner Diamond, was found at Crater of Diamonds State Park in
1990. Originally weighing 3.09 carats, the stone was cut down to 1.09
carats in 1997 and graded as certified D-flawless in clarity color and
cut, according to National Geographic.